Things move fast in football. And they don’t move much faster than Derek McInnes’ descent from king of the hill at Kilmarnock to villain of the piece with his defection to Hearts.
Killie fans began the week with one eye on the possibility of a late flourish to snatch seventh spot in the Scottish Premiership, but their attention was diverted rather sharply by the sight of their manager on punditry duty last weekend doing very little to stop Kris Boyd’s attempts at talking him all the way to Tynecastle.
It very quickly became clear that rumours of Hearts’ interest in the 53-year-old was more than just speculation, but his declaration that he wanted to see out the Rugby Park club’s two remaining fixtures — with Hearts due in Ayrshire today — was always going to be fanciful.
The whole affair has ultimately been a lot more messy than was necessary, but Mail Sport took a deep dive into the situation and reasoned that a sour ending at Killie could yet end in sweet success in Gorgie.
And, who knows, in true Scottish football fashion, it could be that a former Hearts manager returns to Rugby Park to replace the departing boss. We will undoubtedly bring you the latest on that situation in the week ahead as it develops.
Unfortunately, the behaviour of football supporters has again been in the spotlight over the last seven days.
Derek McInnes’ tenure at Kilmarnock came to a more abrupt ending than he’d anticipated
The sight of McInnes’ doing little to stop Kris Boyd’s sale pitch didn’t sit well with Killie fans
If you believed everything you read, Davide Ancelotti WAS the new Rangers boss at one point
While the vast majority are there to support their team, a troublesome minority seem intent on causing trouble and Mail Sport pulled no punches in taking issue with the sense of entitlement that is currently blighting our game.
Rangers are never far from the headlines these days and this last week was no different.
Their search for a new manager certainly caught the eye across the continent when, on Monday, reports from Spain suggested that Carlo Ancelotti’s son, Davide, was a frontrunner.
An exciting name, at least, but something of an unknown as a manager.
Mail Sport’s Calum Crowe, for one, questioned the wisdom of looking at a rookie boss given the size of the job at Ibrox, while our Rangers Confidential team queried the motivation behind his name being thrown into the mix.
The most uplifting football story from the last seven days came not on these shores but over in Italy, where Scottish success stories are hardly in short supply. Not to be outdone by the efforts of countrymen Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour at Napoli, Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson made history on Wednesday by getting his hands on the Coppa Italia, the Rossoblu’s first silverware in 51 years.
Lewis Ferguson lifted the Italian Cup with Bologna… let’s hope Steve Clarke noticed
The former Aberdeen and Hamilton midfielder revealed in the raucous post-match celebrations that he had prepared for his club’s moment of destiny in Rome by watching a rerun of the Dons’ 2018 Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic to remind him of the pain he felt at coming away empty-handed. And it clearly had an effect as he put in a tremendous shift across the 90 minutes despite having struggled with various fitness issues this season.
Even Ferguson’s accomplishments could be put in the shade, however, should Hibernian Ladies complete a remarkable title triumph today. The Edinburgh club are on the brink of a first SWPL title after a season of stunning high achievement, outmuscling their three rivals from across the M8 — Rangers, Celtic and Glasgow City — for much of the season. Our intrepid On The Road icon Hugh MacDonald was there at their final home fixture, a 2-2 draw with Glasgow City, to uncover some remarkable stories from a team on the brink of ‘doing a Leicester’.
Speaking of Leicester, Mail Sport’s most colourful read of the week came via an outrageously entertaining inside story on Jamie Vardy as he prepares to draw the curtain on his sensational spell with the Foxes. If you missed it, do catch it here… you won’t be disappointed.
Away from football, Andy Murray was back in the news as it was revealed that his coaching role with Novak Djokovic was coming to an end six weeks ahead of Wimbledon.
Is Murray now free to embark on a coaching role with Raducanu? You just never know…
Quite what the future holds for Murray is anyone’s guess, but our fantastic Inside Tennis column gazed into the crystal ball to see whether a future working with Emma Raducanu could be on the horizon… or whether she may have already burned her bridges after THAT Wimbledon withdrawal last year.
For something completely different, our unique Mail Sport Extreme column took the high road this week to cover the Highland Ultra Marathon on the barren Knoydart Peninsula in Lochaber.
With many competitors used to running similar races in Arctic, desert and jungle conditions, we discover just what it is that makes our own land so unique and challenging.
And if there’s anything else you might have missed, don’t forget to check out our home page for all the latest Scottish news and sport.
